Open House Show 3.30.24 in Wisconsin Rapids

[Performa]

Coming up quick, the Wisconsin Computer Club will be hosting a one of our library Open House shows in Wisconsin Rapids on Saturday, March 30th. I thought I'd posted this over here already, but I didn't somehow. My organizational skills are unmatched!

The McMillan Memorial Library is located at 490 East Grand Avenue, Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, 54494. The show will run from 10Am-4PM, with an hour of setup and teardown before and after for exhibitors.

The show will feature a blend of various retro video games and computers as well as a demo of our massive U-Matic VCR and the mystery tape. Assuming it runs, we'll all discover what's on the tape together! Hopefully it's appropriate for the library.

 

[Performa]

I will probably bring the Atari 5200 with the multicart and the other controller for those interested in giving some of it's other games a spin too.

 

[DaveG]

I'm planning on coming up from the Milwaukee area. I'll be bringing my Ataris.
800XL with a XF551 disk drive.
STfm with an ACSI2SD hard drive. (maybe even my old 4 bay hard drive case with CDRW and 1tb Zulu SCSI SD drive.
Mini PC mounted in a ST case (if I can get the joystick ports working with it).

 

[Jasper]

Have fun!

 

[Performa]

It was a good show! The Rapids Library usually doesn't get too busy which gave all of us in the club ore time to chat and play with the equipment ourselves. Mad props to all who came, including @PS2it @DaveG @DeanG @mikem Pat, Zach, and the other Alex. Can't wait for the next one!

The library is currently hosting a month-long art show for local elementary art students. The walls of the multipurpose room are truly plastered with student artwork, and it made the space much brighter and more vibrant than our last visit. Apologies to the few parents who came in looking for their students' work that had to maneuver around us.

From left to right, U-Matic VCR, Atari 5200, PlayStation 1, Atari 2600, Enterprex Apollo 2001 Pong console, Commodore 64, Sega Genesis.

From left to right, Epson laptop, Compaq Contura Aero, IBM PC AT, IBM PC XT, IBM ThinkPad, IBM PS/2 Model 60.

From foreground to background, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Entertainment System, PlayStation 2, Nintendo 64.

Left to right, Atari 800XL, and an Atari 800XL case modified to house a modern Windows 10 PC, featuring a variety of emulators. The keyboard and 9-pin joysticks work!

The sleeper PC on the left, the Atari ST on the right.

 

[Performa]

It was fun to get the Atari 5200 out again, though I think the controller is already misbehaving again.

Starting on one end with the U-Matic VCR, Atari 5200, PlayStation 1, Atari 2600, Apollo 2001 Pong Console, Commodore 64, and Sega Genesis. In the background of this photo there's an Atari 800XL, an Atari sleeper PC, and an Atari ST.

The Osborne 1 was banished to the kitchen counter.

The PS2 Model 60 made an appearance running Wolfenstein for part of the show.

We had some retro flash cards and some retro tech literature out.

From left to right, PlayStation 2, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Nintendo Wii.

Up on "stage" we had the Nintendo 64 running Smash Brothers.

We also had the TI-99/4A at the event too!

 

[Performa]

Part of our planned "feature" was the running of the gigantic U-Matic VCR. It had been tested as far as it appeared to be working, so I figured I'd gamble and bring it to the show to see what we could see. While it made a tremendous amount of noise, we weren't able to get anything off of it, which is unfortunate. We'll get it figured out, and try again at a future show!

 

[Performa]

Another look at @DaveG's very cool Atari ST setup.

 

[Performa]

Some more photos at random:

The amazing IBM PC AT setup that @PS2it brought in with his collection. The PC XT is behind it.

Th Compaq Contura Aero 4/330 that didn't want to boot until partway through the show for some reason. Scribbling in paint is tough with that little trackball built into the bottom right.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 on the PlayStation 2.

All sorts of folks came out to play!

Spyro 2 on the PlayStation 1.

Atari 2600 and the Apollo 2001 Pong console. A very 70's console on a very 70's TV.

The usual Commodore 64 setup and the Sega Genesis. I brought the home brew games I'd picked up at Evercon, but we never got around to messing with them. Curiously, none of them have a "demo mode" so I left Lion King in so there'd be something on screen.

The room is oddly shaped with this raised upper level towards the back of the room which I'm told is where the boiler is. Here's probably the best picture I have illustrating the odd layout.